Sparks blow past Liberty

LOS ANGELES It turned out the Liberty were no match for the red-hot Sparks. Kristi Toliver scored 26 points and Candace Parker added 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks to help the Los Angeles win its ninth straight game with an 87-62 victory over the Liberty on Saturday night.

The Sparks (19-6) led wire-to-wire and got another excellent game from Toliver, who scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. Toliver, coming off a career-high tying 29-point game, made back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 77-58 and another to make it 82-60.

L.A.s last nine-game win streak was in 2003, when it started the season 9-0.

Parker scored 10 points in the second half after she missed seven of her first eight shots of the game and DeLisha Milton-Jones added 12 points.

Nneka Ogwumike, the WNBAs leading scorer and rebounder, briefly left the game in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury but returned and finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Cappie Pondexter led the Liberty (9-14) with 20 points. Plenette Pierson added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty, which did not get any closer than 56-54 in the third quarter. The Liberty, which made 13 3-pointers on Thursday, went 4 for 17 from 3-point range and shot 37 percent from the field.

Pondexter sank three jumpers during a 14-4 run in the third quarter that brought the Liberty to 56-54 on Alex Montgomerys layup off a Sparks turnover. But L.A. pulled ahead to 65-57 on a corner 3-pointer by Alana Beard and a left hand layup by Parker after Marissa Coleman saved it from going out of bounds.

The Sparks took a 45-38 lead into halftime despite giving up 22 points in the paint with Parker on the bench for most of the second quarter. The Liberty outrebounded the Sparks, 21-15, in the first half and recorded 12 assists on 15 field goals.

Pondexter brought the Liberty to 33-32 on a 3-pointer before L.A. ended the first half on a 12-6 run. Jantel Lavender scored six of those 12, including a bank shot in the paint and a baseline jumper.

Toliver scored 10 of the Sparks 25 first quarter points. The Liberty pulled to 19-18 on Leilani Mitchells 3-pointer, but Milton-Jones came back with a 3-pointer. Alana Beard forced a turnover on New Yorks next possession and Toliver sank a 3-pointer for a 25-18 lead.

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Sparks blow past Liberty